Pen Tool | Subtract not Subtracting Entirely | Border Remains | Swatches = None

Question

I incorporated an illustration from my artist into an InDesign document. Unfortunately, this particular illustration contains a smudge. I know this could be easily erased with Photoshop or Illustrator, but I don't have access to these tools and my artist is not available right now to remove the smudge. Therefore, I elected to remove the smudge myself using InDesign's Pen Tool.

I selected the Pen Tool and simultaneously elected Swatches > None to ensure no fill color would be created while I was selecting the smudge-removal border. I closed the border via Object > Paths > Close Path successfully. I then backed out, used the Selection Tool to highlight the entire/overall illustration, and then chose Object > Pathfinder > Subtract, which worked as planned. The smudge is gone. Unfortunately, the border of the closed "subtraction path" remains. I tried looking through the Swatches and Stroke menus to remedy this problem to no avail. How do I get rid of the subtraction path border? See the attachment.

Bill Silbert · Answer

The reason that the cutting shape has the same border to it as the outside rectangle is that in using the pathfinder subtract option you have created what is known as a compound path. A compound path allows for "putting the hole within the donut" so to speak since the area created inside the rectangle—which appears to be white in your example—is actually transparent. If you put a color beneath the drawing you will be able to see that color through the hole in your rectangle. Unfortunately for you the hole in the middle will retain the same stroke as the outside of the rectangle. A workaround that I could suggest is to remove the stroke from the outer rectangle. This will also remove that stroke from the hole in the middle. Then draw a new rectangle to exactly the size of the outside rectangle, place it exactly over the original and then apply the stroke but no fill to that outline. The stroke will then appear to be only on the outside.

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